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Aid agency calls for funding to avert malnutrition in Somalia

Xinhua, February 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

World Vision, a global humanitarian agency, on Thursday called for increased funding to curb malnutrition in Somalia where some 58,000 children under five are at risk of death.

World Vision Somalia Country Director Simon Nyabwengi said in a statement that drought is becoming a more frequent feature in Somalia, challenging efforts to build up community resilience since the 2011 famine in the country.

"We are committed to ensuring that the communities we work with in Somaliland and Puntland not only receive immediate aid now, but that long-term investments continue to be made to build their resilience to drought in the years to come," Nyabwengi said.

The statement comes as millions of people, including over 304,000 children in Somalia, are currently at risk of malnutrition and in need of nutritional support.

A further 58,000 children under five are severely malnourished and face an increased risk of morbidity and death, according to the latest food insecurity analysis by Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) and Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET).

The analysis estimates that 4.7 million people, nearly 40 percent of the Somalia population, is in need of humanitarian assistance due to the alarming food security and malnutrition situations.

Nyabwengi said urgent support is needed now not only for the drought, but for all of Somalia as the scale of the humanitarian crisis continues to grow while NGOs, the UN and governments struggle to find sufficient resources to adequately respond to the mounting scale of the challenge.

The recently launched 2016 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP) for Somalia appeals for 885 million U.S. dollars to address the most urgent needs across the country.

While severe food insecurity and malnutrition are widespread across the country, drought in Puntland and Somaliland is also of particular concern, said Nyabwengi, noting it threatens recent gains made towards building household food security. Enditem